flowers can bloom in winter too
by BlazingLegend
Summary: <html><head></head>Shots of times and places and the lives they lead and the ways they don't fall apart even when the story is over. /finale au.</html>


This is a slightly better version of what I originally posted on tumblr, under consideration for further editing and without lyrics (sorry, banned) and with more connecting scenes and description and blah. (Which is basically just an excuse for adding in like twelve additional bed scenes. Not gonna lie.)

* * *

><p>Their ceiling is probably the blandest thing ever, and the fact he's staring at it doesn't help.<p>

"Hey," she says, her nose pressing up against his collarbone, "You're quiet."

"We need to re-paint."

She laughs, a breathy thing, fingers creeping along his jaw. "What?"

"Robin, we need to re-paint."

"Why?"

"Because we do."

She slaps a hand against his chest. "We're not ripping down perfectly good walls to satisfy some weird... after-sex craving."

"We're not ripping down walls, we're _re-painting. _God, Robin."

She shifts closer to him, heel of her foot pressing into his shin. "Tell me why."

"We're turning into Ted."

Silence.

"You're right, we're re-painting."

**x**

Her body is draped over his, face pressing into the hollow of his throat, his hands working their way through her curls.

She rolls off him, and he turns to her, propping himself up on one elbow.

She's pressing the bed covers against her chest, staring at him, sizing him up. "You're about to say something I don't like."

He laughs. "How do you know? I could be saying we got a boxful of puppies."

"Oh my God, again?" she says, frowning at him, "We are not getting more puppies. We have, like, twelve of them already."

"Please. You're exaggerating."

She cocks an eyebrow. "Am I?"

He pouts. "Shut up. You love those puppies."

"Yeah, I do," she presses a hand hard against his chest, looking at him with some sort of urgency, "But my point is _no more._"

"You're no fun, Scherbatsky."

She looks genuinely insulted. "I am so fun. I am the most fun person in the world," she dances three fingers along his chest, "I could _show _you how much fun I am."

"Now doesn't that sound like an idea?"

**x**

"You know," Barney says, tangling his fingers through her curls, gathering at the edges of her hair, "We actually have stuff to do. We could get up, get dressed, and actually do something—maybe, I don't know, productive?"

Robin looks him up and down with an appraising stare.

She smirks. "Or... _or..._"

It only takes one more kiss and he's gone.

**x**

They both walk into the apartment, his arm lying loosely around the small of her back.

Robin grins at the rest of them. "What's up, my bitches?"

Lily groans and walks over to them, wine glass in hand. "Even marriage couldn't make you decent, Robin Scherbatsky."

"Lily, sweetheart," she says in a syrup voice, "I love you and all and I'm all for progress and evolution—" she grins at her husband as he mews a little 'yay for evolution' and she leans in close to Lily, eyes shining, "—but you will _always_ be my bitch."

Marshall's voice floats out from the kitchen, "She's right, baby. It's a cross we all must bear."

**x**

The night progresses and they all drink and laugh and talk about how the kids are doing and how Ted's hair is turning grey, but most of all, they're together.

It these times that make it all worth it.

Through everything else, through the rainy days where Lily feels so alone, through the times Robin questions whether it really is worth it, through Barney's breakdowns and Tracy's days spent cooped up writing, through Marshall's worries over days yet to come, through Ted's long stories, through the hardships of dealing with kids and the trials of life, through the times it feels like this is the end, and adulthood has settled in all of them and they'll never see each other again.

These are the times that make it all worth it.

Ted stirs from his spot on the couch. His eyes are glazed over with just how much alcohol he's consumed as it got later into the night. "I should probably head home. Tracy might be worrying."

Barney and Robin are sprawled on the floor, (because apparently the couch is too mainstream or something) and her head is lying on his stomach as he plays with her dark locks of hair. She swats an arm in the direction of Ted's voice. "Your wife's cool," she calls. She arches a brow, and grins. "Why don't you just send her a texty-text?"

"I have the most awesome wife in the world!" Barney says, "Making jokes at Ted's expense high five!"

Ted moans. "You're never going to stop with the texty-text, are you?"

Robin smiles. "Not a chance, Mosby."

**x**

Barney drops her off in front of their building. "I'll be back," he murmurs, kissing her lightly.

"Like the terminator?"

"_Awesomer _than the terminator."

She laughs. "You go take Ted home," she says. "He really has to stop taking my advice."

Barney laughs along with her. "It's probably in his best interest," he says.

A drunk Ted hollers from the car.

"He's coming, he's coming, hold your horses!" Robin calls back, and then mutters, "Jesus."

Barney takes a step away from her, and she pouts. "Don't worry," he says, curving a finger along her jaw, "I'll be back soon, and then we can get back to that doing nothing thing."

Breath smoulders out in the form of white puffs of dragon smoke and she kisses him again, his scent mingled with the cheap wine they've had to suffer through now that Lily's painting full time and they don't have as many luxuries as they used to.

But, and this is something she'll probably never admit, not aloud anyway, but the fact that Lily's making it work is something that makes Robin proud.

"It's a deal."

Barney trots back to the car.

**x**

Robin waves at him from the step of the building, and he clicks Ted's seatbelt in for him.

"My wife's so awesome," Ted murmurs, head lolling back against the seat, his voice turning sloppy with alcohol.

Barney smiles, and says, softly, "My wife's more awesome."

**x**

"Pull it together, Ted," Barney says as the car starts rolling down the street, "Last time you came home this bombed your wife had a very stern conversation with me."

"No she didn't," Ted calls him out, "My wife's cool."

Barney laughs as he pulls into another lane.

**x**

His wedding band glints against flickering street lights, shotty illumination pouring in through the windows.

He sighs, and smiles.

"You really love her, don't you?" Ted slurs at him from the backseat.

He doesn't even need to ask who he's talking about. "Yeah, I do." He says. "Why?"

"You know, I was always rooting for you guys."

Barney laughs at him as they roll through familiar streets. "Really?"

"Really," Ted says. "Me and Robin didn't make nearly as much sense as you guys do." He stops, then starts again, "Even then, you guys don't make much sense either, but at least you guys are happy not knowing together, y'know?"

Barney smiles. "Yeah, I know." He pauses. "You and Tracy make a lot of sense."

"I'm not sure," Ted says. "She doesn't like the red cowboy boots."

"No one does."

"I s'pose," he mumbles, and Barney hears him sigh. "But yeah, we do make a lot of sense."

**x**

Barney doesn't know how he and Ted always have something to talk about; there's always something on the agenda, something to ramble drunkenly about.

Maybe he's not supposed to know. Maybe that's the fun part.

And he has no idea when he started sounding like Tracy.

**x**

He knocks softly on the door of the Mosby house.

Tracy beams at him as the door swings open. "Hey, Barney."

"'Sup, McConnell."

She laughs and hooks her arms through Ted's. Her husband greets her with a sloppy kiss to the cheek; she pretends to be disgusted, but he knows it's another weird thing she loves about him. Really, they're both weird.

"Thanks for bringing him home again." She says, patting down Ted's hair, "I know it's a long drive."

Barney shrugs. "Anytime." He says. "You know I don't mind."

Tracy laughs as Ted murmurs drunken utterances against her hair. "He's been taking your wife's advice again, hasn't he?"

"Yeah," Barney says, and grins. "It's probably not in his best interest."

"Probably not," she repeats, and smiles at him, softly, a real McConnell smile.

**x**

"Honey, I'm home," Barney proclaims in a high-pitched, sarcastic voice as he strides through the door of his residence.

She looks up at him from where she sits on the couch, laptop at her fingertips. "You took longer than expected."

He goes and sits down next to her. She shuffles closer to him, thighs touching. "Yeah," he says. "Tracy offered me coffee."

"That woman needs to be here more often," Robin mutters, tapping out a few words into her keyboard. "I mean, Lily and Marshall moved back here, for God's sake. Everybody's here. If I didn't know better, I'd say she doesn't like us."

He laughs, and kisses along her jaw. "Yeah, but you do know better."

"Yeah, I do." She says. She slides the laptop off her legs, sets it down on the table, and turns to him, hooking her fingers around his neck. She kisses him, then pulls back, her eyes glinting. "Should we get back to that doing nothing thing?"

He carries her into the bedroom.

**x**

Robin glares at Barney. "You're one quarter Canadian, for God's sake. Stop shivering!"

"La la de blah blah, I can't heeear yooou,"

She shakes her head, but her scowl dissolves into a smile. "Idiot."

**x**

"Oh Good God," Barney says, collapsing onto the floor of Lily and Marshall's apartment the second he walks in the door. "Heat. Warmth. Life."

Robin nudges him with the toe of her boot. "Get up."

"No."

**x**

Robin presses the glass of scotch into his hands. "Here," she says, with a laugh. "You look like you need it."

He takes a grateful sip, and smiles back at her. "I love you."

She pulls a face. "That's the scotch talking."

She screams as he pushes her into the snow.

She scrambles up, eyes on fire. "Oh, it is on!" She yells at him, a snowball hitting him square in the chest.

He turns back around, slowly; she's pinning him with a teasing, taunting smirk. "You're going to regret that."

She arches a brow. "Oh really?" she says. "Catch me if you can, America."

**x**

He pins her to the ground, grinning down at her, breath smouldering out in puffs of white air, blending in with hers.

Snow flecks her hair. "I caught you." He says.

She smiles right back up at him. "Now what are you going to do about it?"

Lily yanks the back of his collar, heaving him upright. "Oh my God, you guys. There are children here."

Robin sits up, brushing the snow from her clothes. "You killjoy."

"You should be turning in, anyway," Lily says, dusting Barney off, "You're not twenty-five anymore. You can't just keep having snowball fights at six in the morning."

Barney and Robin exchange a look. "Just watch us."

**x**_  
><em>

Lily piles her into the car and then turns back to Barney. "Stay out there."

He pouts. "But Lily, it's so cold."

"You're a quarter Canadian. Get over it."

"You have to stop talking to my wife."

Lily shuts the door on him and he just stands there, hopping foot to foot, glaring at them.

"Hurry it up, Lily," Robin says, "Or he's going to be complaining about this for the next year and a half."

"Not everything's like last Christmas, Robin."

Robin eyes her. "You're not married to him."

"So," Lily starts off awkwardly, smashed in next to her in the small confinement of the car. "It's your and Barney's twelfth wedding anniversary pretty soon."

Robin shrugs. "Yeah, so?"

"So twelve's a big number!" She cries. "What are you doing for the special day?"

Robin blows out her cheeks. "We're just going to stay in."

"What do you mean, stay in? It's your wedding anniversary!"

Robin arches a brow and grins. "I think you know full well what I mean, Lily."

"Oh God, gross, gross!"

Robin shrugs. "Hey, me and Barney have a healthy sex life."

**x**

It transitions back into summer soon enough.

"Oh my God, Robin, this is so cool—!"

"Get your head back in the goddamn car."

**x**

Lily frowns at the two of them.

"You two are stupid."

Robin pouts. "Maybe you're stupid, Lily. Maybe everybody else is stupid and we're the smartest people in the world and we're a new breed of invincible and—"

She gives Barney a pointed look. "You need to stop rubbing off on your wife."

(Barney makes a mental note to bring up the dirtiness of that last comment sometime when Lily is feeling particularly safe and secure.)

**x**_  
><em>

They stare up at the ceiling.

"Your plane leaves in an hour and a half."

She wipes away a tear that trickles down. "I know."

**x**

She clings to him, kissing him everywhere, his jaw, his ears, his hairline, his lips. "I'll be back in a few weeks."

He sighs, his hands at her waist. "You know that doesn't make it better."

**x**

Her legs are looped around his waist, and he lifts her up, he lifts her up. "I missed you," he murmurs against the hollow of her throat.

Her fingers are in his hair. "I missed you too."

**x**

"I thought I'd drop by." Lily says, smiling at her from her own doorstep.

Robin sweeps aside to let her in. "Sure."

She comes and sits down on the couch. "How's Barney?"

She smiles, softly. "He's good."

"Still running around breaking things together?" Lily asks, eyebrows raised.

Robin grins. "Hell yeah."

"So, where is he?" Lily says, straightening the items on her coffee table.

Robin takes a calm sip from her coffee. "Tied to the bed."

Lily sputters. "What? You're joking, please tell me you're joking."

Robin grins. "Hey, Barney?"

A voice floats in from the other room. "Robin, when are you coming back?"

Lily looks scandalised.

Robin shrugs. "You're the one who wanted to know where he is."

Lily shakes her head. "You guys have to be the weirdest couple I know."

"Yeah, and we're awesome at it."

Lily just stares.

Robin smirks. "Twenty-five at heart."

Lily soon leaves, but only because Barney's whining that his wrists hurt.

They quickly get back to their extracurricular activities.

**x**

He squeezes three beats against her hand. "You're leaving tomorrow, right?"

Robin shakes her head. "Nope."

He frowns. "But didn't you tell me...?"

She smiles and kisses him. "I quit."

He looks at her. "But you love that job."

She sighs. "Not really. Sure, it's fun traipsing all around the world, but without you it's just another empty hotel room and another continent filled with strangers' faces." She leans in and kisses him. "I love you more, anyway."

He grins. "That's the scotch talking."

She pushes him over.

**x**

Barney holds her close against him as Lily blows out the candles on her cake.

She turns around, tears in her eyes, and throws her arms around the both of him. "I love you guys so much."

Robin wraps an arm around her. "We love you too, Lily."

**x**

Penny sobs against Barney's suit. "Please don't ever leave me," she says, reaching out and grabbing Robin's hand, "Please don't ever leave me."

"We're not going anywhere. Not without kidnapping you, at least."

**x**

Tracy welcomes Robin with a hug. "Hey."

Robin pulls away. "Hey, McConnell."

Tracy laughs. "You're just like your husband, you know that?"

A pause.

Tracy grins. "I never said it was a bad thing."

**x**

They're finally back in New York after a few weeks spent with the Mosby clan in the—shudder shiver—suburbs.

**x**

Lily rushes into their apartment in the middle of the night.

"Robin! Barney! Wake the hell up!" She screams.

Robin emerges first, rubbing at her eyes. "Why did we give you a key again?" she murmurs, voice affected with sleep.

Lily points out Barney's absence, cringing. "Oh God, he's not tied to the bed again, is he?"

Robin winks. "Twenty-five at heart, Lily."

"Gross!"

Robin laughs as Barney walks into the room, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Not tied to the bed again, Lily." He says, grinning.

Lily rolls her eyes. "God."

Robin urges her. "You had something to say?"

Lily snaps back to attention. "Right. Right!" She burbles, "You know how I've been working in my studio over the past couple of weeks?"

Robin stares. "Yeah. You've been all tinker tailor solider spy about it."

"Yeah, well, whatever," Lily rushes on, "Well, I finally finished it, and, and... and someone bought it!"

The figure shocks both of them; not that she doesn't deserve it or doesn't have a high enough level of skill, but that they were the first people she wanted to tell.

**x**

She is the most beautiful person he's ever seen.

Robin turns around, grinning. "You checking me out, Barney?"

He smiles. "Always."

**x**

Robin sits in the centre of the couch, staring blankly ahead, hands clasped in her lap.

"What's wrong?" he says, looking at her.

"Do you..." she stops, clears her throat, starts again, "Do you ever miss being single?"

He frowns. "Just what have you been drinking, Scherbatsky?" he says, laughing, "I'd rather have you than a thousand big-boobed blondes. You know that. And anyway, you're an animal in bed. Like I'd give that up."

She smiles up at him. "You're right," she goes over and kisses him, hands at his waist. "I'm being stupid."

**x**

Lily smiles at her as she walks in. "Hey, Robin." She says.

Robin sets the wine bottle down. "Hey."

Lily reaches out and yanks at her left hand. "Sometimes I still can't believe it," she murmurs. "Robin Scherbatsky, married."

"You've had a while to get used to it, Lily." She says with a laugh.

Lily reluctantly gives her hand back. "I know," she says, "You guys are the best couple I know."

Robin arches a brow. "I thought we were the weirdest?"

She laughs. "You're that, too."

**x**

Barney traces over her navel with a finger. "We probably have stuff to do."

She kisses his neck. "Yeah, probably."

**x**

"Come on," Barney tugs on her hand, pulling her deeper into the belly of the plane. "Our seats are over here."

"Do you know how big the bathroom stalls are in this airplane?"

Barney stares at her, and kisses the skin of her shoulder. "God, you're hot."

**x**

Robin buttons up her blouse.

Lily gives her a withering stare. "He's not tied up in there, is he? For God's sake, this is an airplane."

Robin grins. "Why do you think he brought so many ties?"

Lily shakes her head. "I'm sad to say I know what to expect from you by now."

**x**

"Well, that was boring," Barney says, kissing the back of her neck. "Seriously, you would think in this day and age they would know to always have booze at a wedding reception."

"Yeah, the no alcohol thing sucked, but it was nice, wasn't it?" She says with a laugh, and tugs at his fingers.

"Those guys are hopeless." He says. "I'm pretty sure even the romance crapstorm that is Ted and Tracy Mosby do not need a second wedding."

She kisses the skin underneath his ear. "At least we have a big hotel room."

He grins into her hair.

**x**

Barney's hand skates her thigh. "Bridge is lame."

"I heard that," Lily pipes up from her seat across from him, eyeing the couple up and down.

Barney makes a face at her.

Robin grins at his fingers tug at the belt of her jeans.

"Hey," Lily chirps at him. "Hands where I can see them, mister."

"You're so lame, Lily."

"Shut up."

Marshall whines. "Guys, can you stop trying to have sex with each other for just a second and watch as I beat your asses in?" he slams his winning cards down on the table. "Bridge!"

Barney looks sour. "Whatever," he says, "It's a stupid game."

"Oh," Robin coos, pulling at his tie. "Did the big bad judge damage your ego?"

"No. Shut up."

"I'm your wife."

"So?"

She grins. "So you can't get rid of me. I'm never shutting up," she waves her left hand at him, rings glinting in the sunlight, "_Ever._"

He smiles and kisses her, hands at her jaw. "Robin Scherbatsky, I love you so damn much."

She smiles at him, generous light embracing her frame. "I love you too, Barney Scherbatsky."


End file.
